ESP

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About

ESP is the brainchild of Jamie Howells. Hailing from South Wales, Jamie has spent the past 15 years building a collection of old synths and analog equipment, perfecting his skills in music making and playing in local bands such as funk rock outfits Lunar Tool and the Coloursound Experiment. Also releasing material with his collaborative project 'The Shepherd' on Bristol based label Hairy Parents.

ESP sees Jamie going in a new direction, combining his love of electronic music which includes the Orb, Boards of Canada, DJ Shadow, Aphex Twin etc. with sci-fi and horror soundtracks from artists like John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream, and Vangelis. The result of which is an epic, atmospheric, soundscape, rich in melodies and mood evoking timbres and textures, which will work their way into your subconscious and eventually into your soul!

Making of

ESP brings to you the four track E.P. "Broad Haven" free to download.

The album "Blue Book" is written around the concept of the UFO phenomenon, containing themes such as the WOW signal and the Welsh Triangle (the alleged UFO sightings from West Wales in the 1970s)

All ESP recordings were done at Jamie's home studio in South Wales between 2015 and 2016 -

"I wanted to capture that sound you only hear on old film scores like The Terminator or The Thing, and only authentic analog gear can give you that quality; rich, warm, but with a layer of dust over it! There's something about the original hardware that you just can't recreate with computers. This has been a labour of love for the past 18 months, what started as a bit of fun to pass the time soon became an obsession!" - Jamie Howells ESP

Equipment used

Korg MS20

Sequential Six-trak

Crumar Roady electric piano

Siel Orchestra

Siel Mono

CRB Electronica organ

Alesis Micron

Casio SK1

Casio VL1

Roland SH3A

Behringer Time Machine

Marshall Reflector reverb

Behringer Vintage Phaser

Marshall Regenerator (chorus, flanger, phaser)

Danelectro PB&J delay

Korg Volca Beats

Ibanez SR305 5 string bass

Orange Crush PiX CR50BXT combo amp

Recording

Boss BR-8 8 Track recorder

Roland SP808 Groove Sampler

Roberts 1725 reel-to-reel

Cubase LE on Mac (for mixing)

Links

The Shepherd Whilst wandering lonely on a hill side in Wales tending to his beloved flock, THE SHEPHERD, inspired by a whole range of influences including funk, hip-hop, weird synthesizers, TV-Themes, and farm-based consumables, decided to return to the farmhouse, get out his sampler, drum machine and synthesisers, and create a sumptuous musical menu with his own hearty produce.